The Shadows Creep
by ken777
Summary: New Moon AU Bella does not make it in time to save Edward and he dies at the hand of the Volturi. But is Edward truly gone when she hears his voice? Sees him standing over her in her sleep? Cannon ghost story unlike any before. Darkward.
1. Chapter 1

The Shadows Creep

**AN: Here with a new story. This is a cannon New Moon AU Ghost Story. Sounds fun right? This story is an experiment on a simple question. What happens after a vampire dies? Hopefully this story will answer that. Even I don't know what will happen next. Hope you enjoy. **

**Full Summary:**

**Bella does not make it in time to save Edward and he dies at the hand of the Volturi. But is Edward truly gone when she hears his voice? Sees him standing over her in her sleep? What is real when one wakes to have one's most desired wish, only to have it ripped away each and every time? Can love really be stronger than even death? Who is to be trusted, and who is to be feared? The agony, the want, the need becomes an obsession until Bella has to find the answer to a question long asked. What happens after a vampire dies? A Twilight Ghost story unlike any before.**

**Warnings: Thoughts and actions of suicide, Sexual images and situations, Violence, Subjects of witchcraft and magic, Substance abuse, and Disturbing imagery.**

Chapter 1

She kept running. It didn't matter for how long, or how hard, or even that it felt as if her heart would beat right out of her chest, because none of that mattered. Not the burn her aching muscles felt, or the way her skin was over heated and red, or how her chest heaved in heavy, painful ways. But none of that would nearly be as painful as it would be losing him. She had lost him before, but he had been alive. He had been somewhere in the world, doing whatever it is he felt like doing, and though she needed him more than air, it was just the slightest bit okay because he was alive and well.

But now he wasn't and if she didn't make it, then everything no longer mattered. A world where he didn't exist wasn't what she could take.

Somewhere inside of her, a confidence was growing. A confidence, not that he would want her, but a confidence that she could save him. Save him and look at him and smell him, perhaps run her fingers over the cold smoothness of his skin. To look into those golden eyes of his, to feel just how much she loved him.

She even allowed herself to imagine what would happen afterwards. She and Alice would be happy and relaxed, Alice chattering on about what the rest of the Cullens would be doing and she would listen and be relieved to hear any news of them. He would sit there, perhaps silent and thoughtful, or calm and dead like he was when he left, or maybe he would smile that crooked smile that sent her heart racing.

Not once, did she think of what would happen if she failed.

There were voices surrounding her, loud and soft and upset and angry and even screams at one point but she couldn't focus on anything but the way he had looked at her. It was a way she had seen before and yet had not, because he looked at her in the way he used to, with love, with adoration, with fondness, with sadness, but he had also looked at her with peace, and an understanding that he had made yet another mistake, and one that he would not live to correct, and he had smiled crookedly at her, even as he was dragged into the shadows, black robes fluttering around the paleness of his skin. She remembered thinking that he had never looked as beautiful, or as frightening.

When they brought Bella back to him, she was hanging limply in the big Cullen's arms like a rag doll. He remembered how she looked that night, muttering to him how Edward was gone and the rage and hatred rose to the surface.

"What the hell has that little bastard done to her now!" He screamed, his face turning almost purple.

So he was surprised, shocked into stillness as Esme, small, sweet, gentle Esme reared forward and slapped him. It almost felt as if a small boulder had hit him and his face rocked to the side.

"Don't _ever _speak of my sonlike that again Charlie Swan!" She snarled and Carlisle stepped forward to wrap his arms around her shoulders, and the usually gentle doctor's face was hard, his eyes narrowed and black, and Charlie knew that he wanted to have a go at him as well.

And Alice looked as if he disgusted her and the look hurt more than he wanted to admit. She nodded to Emmett and he moved forward, setting Bella gently onto the sofa before stepping back.

Alice looked at him with dead eyes, and the other Cullen brother wrapped his long arms around her tiny form.

"Edward killed himself because he thought Bella was dead. So think about that the next time you speak ill of him." With that said, the Cullens looked at Bella for a long moment before turning their backs to him and leaving.

She woke slowly, her eyes blinking away the blurriness. She could make out the beams of light from the moon, and her vision cleared as she turned to stare blankly at her window. The blinds were drawn up and the smooth glass reflected the freedom of the tree gently swaying outside of it.

Edward was late. She continued to stare, as if she could somehow will him to come sooner, crawling through the square space to smile crookedly at her, his golden eyes glinting with mirth at her miffed expression. And slowly, very slowly, she remembered that he hadn't come through that window for months. And now, he never would again.

Her heart started to race, her face hot as unimaginable pain shot through her and she curled into herself with a loud, shrill scream. It felt as if her heart was eating itself out of her stomach, desperate to find him, die with him. She writhed as if venom flowed through her veins and she wished that were true. Maybe then she would have been able to save him.

Charlie bust through the door and to her side, his arms too big and too warm for the arms she needed, would do anything to feel again.

"Bella! Bella-"

"He's gone! I watched him die! I couldn't save him….oh God!" She wasn't even aware of half the things she said.

Her screams rung through the room, splitting the air with sounds of pure anguish. Charlie's ears were ringing, his heart beating so fast that part of him feared a heart attack. He might as well, because the sounds his only daughter was making weren't human.

They were the sounds of an animal mourning the loss of its mate. Nothing he said or did had any affect on her.

"Grab her Alice."

Charlie hadn't even noticed them come in and he wondered if he had left the door unlocked.

Bella was removed from his arms, her small form huddled against the even smaller form of Alice Cullen.

Her father gently grasped Bella's arm, his face strangely expressionless as he pushed the needle into her arm. She slowly quieted, her eyes wide but glazed over as she stared into nothing.

"Thank you," Charlie said quietly.

Carlisle shrugged, an uncharacteristic gesture for the usually mild mannered man.

_That's because he just lost his son idiot. _Charlie cursed himself for being so insensitive. He clapped Carlisle on the shoulder, frowning lightly at how hard he was.

"I'm… really sorry for how I acted earlier… and about Edward," he said unsurely.

There was no sign that the doctor even heard him but the man nodded lightly, his eyes still focused on Bella.

Her eyes were closed now and they would have thought her peaceful if not for the tormented expression on her face, the only clue to the hell brewing inside of her.

_He was still looking at her as she fell, one hand bracing herself up painfully and the other reaching for him, as if the will of her fingers could pull him safely into her grasp._

_His lips gently tilted up into that beautiful crooked smile , all the while still giving her that strange look as he was dragged away._

_Flash_

_He was still looking at her as she fell, one hand bracing herself up painfully and the other reaching for him, as if the will of her fingers could pull him safely into her grasp. He lifted one hand as if to take hers._

_His lips gently tilted up into that beautiful crooked smile, all the while still giving her that strange look as he was dragged away._

_Flash_

_He was still looking at her as she fell, one hand bracing herself up painfully and the other reaching for him, as if the will of her fingers could pull him safely into her grasp. He lifted one hand as if to take hers. He turned it up and let it hang there waiting patiently for her to place her own there._

_His lips gently tilted up into that beautiful crooked smile, all the while still giving her that strange look as he was dragged away._

_Flash_

_He was still looking at her as she fell, one hand bracing herself up painfully and the other reaching for him, as if the will of her fingers could pull him safely into her grasp. He lifted one hand as if to take hers. He turned it up and let it hang there waiting patiently for her to place her own there._

_His lips gently tilted up into that beautiful crooked smile, his mouth opening, whispering the words so quietly that she knew she shouldn't have heard all the while still giving her that strange look as he was dragged away._

"_I've missed you… love."_

She jerked up, panting. "Edward?"

A soft thud answered her in the silent room as her heart beat sped up, her eyes looking frantically around the room until they landed on the shadow in the corner of her room.

She stared, trying desperately not to hope. "Edward… please… please tell me you're here…" she crawled off of her bed, her eyes never moving away from the figure. She couldn't make out any features but she knew. It had to be…

A soft chuckle greeted her ears.

"Didn't you call out to me, love?"


	2. Chapter 2

The Shadows Creep

Chapter 2

She crept closer to the shadow, wanting to lunge at it, to grasp it to her because she knew, knew deep inside her aching heart that Edward was there.

He had come back to her. She reached her hand out, her fingers trembling as it neared the shadow. Her heart pumped frantically, her body almost vibrating with excitement and longing and need yet some part of her was afraid. What if it wasn't him? What if she was imagining him?

That smooth, velvet chuckle reached her ears and a smile stretched across her face and she moved faster, her fingers almost reaching the shadow as a joyful cry of, "Edward!" left her lips.

Her bedroom door opened and light poured into her room. Her head shot around to stare at Charlie as he peered in at her. "Bella?" he asked in concern.

She jerked her head back to see that the shadow was gone. She stared for a long, uncomprehending moment as Charlie's hand settled onto her shoulder, shaking her lightly. "Bella? Are you alright?"

"He was here," she whispered, her eyes still focusing on the spot where she knew Edward had been standing. "He was standing right here. He talked to me…"

Charlie flinched, swallowing roughly as he tried to turn her to face him but she refused to budge, stubbornly keeping her head focused on the area. "Bella, he's not here. I'm sorry… but…"God he was so bad at this.

"No!" she screamed finally looking at him, her bloodshot eyes glaring

at him with such a look of hatred that he recoiled. "He was here! He was standing right here until you came!" Her voice rose until she was shrieking at the top of her lungs. "You took him away from me! Bring him back! Bring him back!" She lunged at him, clawing at his face, wanting to scar him like she was inside. She wanted to ruin him, to make him bleed and scream and hurt just like she was.

Charlie wrapped his arms around her, restraining her the best he could as she screamed and failed around, trying to get at him. He could feel the painful ache of the scratches on his face, but that was nothing compared to the agony of seeing his daughter's eyes, swollen and bloodshot, full of hatred and pain and longing, and he knew then that he had lost her.

He had lost her the moment her eyes had met Edward Cullen's and a part of him cursed the day that boy ever arrived in Forks.

...

The bed buckled slightly beneath her weight. She buried her nose against the golden comforter, breathing in Edward's scent. A small, fragile smile lifted the corner of her mouth as she remembered how said bed had come to be.

"_What… is that?" Edward asked through gritted teeth at the huge mattress his brothers were trying to get in through the doorway._

"_It's your new bed silly," Alice chirped._

_Edward stared at her. "What?"_

"_It's your instrument of carnal enlightenment," Emmett said, laughing as Edward's eyes popped open into wide topaz circles. His mouth dropped as he struggled to find something to say to that._

"_Edward's speechless…" Jasper nudged Emmett's shoulder. "Hell yeah man, you've done the impossible!"_

_Esme and Carlisle glanced up from where they were cuddling on the couch, smiling secretly in amusement at their children's antics._

_Rose snorted, examining her nails from where she leaned on the wall. _

"_You think way too highly of him. No way is Emoward going to give up his precious virtue!"_

"_Ah come on Rosie," Emmett whined. "This is the best of the best. A good mattress for supporting fragile humans, doesn't squeak much…and it's huge! Plenty of rolling around to be done!"_

_Edward finally found his voice as his eyes turned pitch black. "There isn't going to be any… rolling around!" he shouted, his voice filled with embarrassment and rage as they laughed. "Are you all out of your minds! My sex life is none of your business!"_

"_You'd actually have to have a sex life for it to be your business," _

_Alice quipped dryly, yelping as he lunged at her. She ducked out of his way, laughing as they chased each other around the room in a high-speed vampire chase._

"_Children! Don't break anything!" Esme called, but the laughter could be heard in her voice, even as she scolded Edward at the curses he spat at his tiny sister._

_Edward stopped abruptly, a chilling smirk crossing his lips as he stared at Alice._

"_No!" she screeched as she looked at him in horror. "Not my credit cards!" She jumped onto his back, sending them both to the floor._

"_1,ooo bucks says Alice wins," Jasper said as they rolled around on the floor trying to get the upperhand. Emmett scoffed. "You and your godamn cheating… fine… 1,000 for Edward."_

_Alice threw her arm around Edward's neck as she pinned him to the floor, sprawled out over his back. She leant down to his ear. "Bella will probably like it," she sing-songed, knowing that mentioning _

_Bella's happiness would guarantee her win._

_Just as she predicted Edward stopped struggling, seeming to think about it before he sighed, a small smile appearing on his face. "Alright _

_Alice, you win. Thank you for thinking of Bella."_

"_No problem," she said, wrapping her other arm around his neck for more of a hug than a strangling hold._

"_Fucking Alice," Emmett grumbled, roughly slapping down the money into Jasper's hands._

"_Idiot," Rose sighed as Esme appeared beside Emmett to smack him over the head._

"_Ow! It's not my fault that Eddie's such a loser!"_

_Jasper whistled softly as Emmett was thrown clear out of the house by Edward's kick. He looked down at the mattress. "Now how am I going to get this into the house? You kicked my mule across the yard!"_

_Edward smiled angelically. "I'm sure you'll figure it out."_

The memory brought fresh, painful tears that would never fall and she curled into herself as she sobbed dryly. She felt the bed dip and she almost rolled off of it when strong arms wrapped around her. The rest of the Cullens had squeezed themselves on the bed, wrapping their arms around each other as their agony rolled through the room, making

Jasper's eyes roll back at the force of it but he only laid there, his arms wrapped around his Alice and let it.

Low, keening wails echoed eerily throughout the room as they remembered and grieved.

...

Charlie was tired himself when Bella finally passed out, exhausted from her constant failing and screaming. Grunting with effort, he hefted her into his arms and carried her up to her room, gently settling her onto her bed and tucking her underneath the covers.

He sat on the edge of the bed, staring at her pale, tear-stained face and running a hand through her tangled hair.

Charlie was far from an arrogant man but he was proud to have stood on his own two feet for most of his life. Even after he had fallen apart when Renee left him, dragging his daughter along, he forced himself to stand tall in face of the overwhelming hurt and depression, the side looks and the whispered gossip of the townsfolk and moved on with his life though he never forgot, and he certainly never stopped loving his ex-wife and daughter.

But in light of the last few nights and this one in particular he finally admitted it to himself. He needed help.

_..._

_Laughter surrounded her as she became aware. She didn't recognize the room but it was huge with high sweeping ceilings, various paintings decorating the walls and antique furniture and yet the room gave off a foreboding aura that sent chills down her back and made her heart race with fear._

_She looked around, looking for the source of the laughter and saw a crowd of faceless people, laughing hysterically as if something extremely amusing had occurred but for the life of her she couldn't recall what._

_But there was one round of laughter, a single voice out of the crowd's that she recognized and her eyes shot around the room, frantically searching until she found him, standing to the far left of the crowd, laughing merrily, his eyes scrunched closed. He was the most beautiful thing in the room, the most beautiful thing in her world._

"_Edward!" she gasped, scrambling to her feet as she raced towards him. He opened his eyes, topaz orbs glittering brightly as he gazed upon her. She flew into his arms, sobbing with relief as she felt his cold embrace close in around her, his cool touch soothing her soul._

"_Oh Edward… you're here… God I can't… I'm so glad you're here! I miss you so much…"_

_She felt his body shake as he laughed again and she looked up, hurt that he was laughing at her pain. Razor sharp white teeth flashed at her._

"_Oh love, of course you miss me! You killed me remember? You were to late…" He laughed again, long and deep as she tried to pull away from him, here eyes wide with horror and her mouth trembling as she started to sob. "TOO LATE! TOO LATE! TOO LATE! I'M GONE! ALL GONE!" he screamed as he laughed and soon, she was screaming with him as laughter surrounded them._

...

She woke up with a long, shrill scream, her body heaving as it tried to draw in air. Vaguely she heard a voice speaking to her, a hand stroking through her hair and gradually she calmed, falling back into a deep but restless sleep_._

_She blinked open her eyes, staring at the ceiling of her room, her thoughts muddled and confused. Her vision was blurry at first but soon it cleared. She caught a motion from the corner of her eye and jerked up, turning her head to look._

_Edward sat in a chair pulled up next to her bed, his hands clasped and lying peacefully in his lap as he gazed at her with a serene look on his angelic face._

"_Edward?" she breathed, moving forward, the blankets falling to her heels as she reached her trembling hand up to gently cup his face._

_A crooked smile came across his lips as he leaned into her hand. A small sob left her mouth as she threw herself into his arms. He held her to him, gently stroking her hair as he brushed his lips against her forehead._

"_Please… please don't leave me!" she cried._

"_Oh love, I'm here," he whispered, nuzzling against her face. "I'm here. You just have to open your eyes… open your eyes and I'll be here... just look at me love…"_

...

Her eyes snapped open and she looked up into the bright topaz jewels of his eyes.


End file.
